GW sweeps MSAC swimming championships

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Lawrence Pierce

George Washington's Emily Hageboeck won the girls 200-yard freestyle at the MSAC meet Saturday.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- With only two more meets left in the high school swimming season - next Saturday's regionals and the state meet Feb. 16 - George Washington coach Melissa Case is encouraged.After all, the Patriots easily swept to the boys and girls team titles Saturday at the Mountain State Athletic Conference championships at the University of Charleston's Natatorium.GW's boys amassed 398 points to outdistance runner-up Hurricane, which finished with 174 points. Parkersburg was third with 158 points followed by South Charleston (150) and Huntington 90. (See Page 2D for results).Patriots junior Zach Kidd was a double winner, taking the 200- and 500-yard freestyle while senior Jacob Nason won the 200 individual medley and junior Chris Kay taking the 100 backstroke. GW set meet records in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.

In the girls division, the Patriots compiled 417 points to second-place Parkersburg's 285. Hurrricane was third with 102 points followed by Winfield (98) and Capital (93).GW senior Anna Davis captured the 50 freestyle, setting a meet mark, and teamed with sophomore Katie Hageboeck and freshman Emily Hageboeck and freshman Jordyn O'Dell to set a record in the 400 relay. Emily Hageboeck (200 freestyle), Katie Hageboeck (200 individual medley) and O'Dell (100 freestyle) also won events for the Patriots, who swept the relays by winning the 200 medley and freestyle and 400 freestyle.

"My team is serious about swimming well,'' said Case, who has guided the GW boys to back-to-back state titles the past two years and the girls to a runner-up finish in 2012. "They come to meets ready. They support each other even on good days and bad days."Everybody gets a little worried this time of year to see what they're going to swim at regionals and whether they're going to make it to states. We are starting to be swimming our fastest [times] of the season, which is where we want to be.''South Charleston's Austin Green won the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, setting a meet mark in latter, and Adam Poe (50 freestyle and 100 freestyle), who set a meet record in the 100 freestyle. Green and Poe teamed up with junior Rashad Wiener and senior Christopher Canterbury to help the Black Eagles set a mark in the 200 freestyle relay.On the girls side, Hurricane junior Claire Coleman (100 butterfly) and Winfield sophomore Madisyn Lyons (500 freestyle) set meet records. Lyons also won the 100 breaststroke and Capital freshman Erica Clonch took the 100 backstroke.Case said everything seems to be falling into place for the Patriots."We've got a solid girls team this year,'' she said. "We've definitely got girls that are still fighting each other for spots so they're motivating each other to try to be on relays. I don't think they're going to let down now."The boys side, they're coming, too with solid lifetimes. They were pretty excited to pull off a couple of relays, which is a good gauge their times are still coming down. They've got a couple more meets to go.''Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at tatkinson@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4811.